Shafaq News/ The United States expressed concern on Tuesday over the proposed amendments to Iraq's Personal Status Law, warning that these changes could undermine the rights of women and children.

US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski voiced this concern on X, stating, "We are concerned about proposed amendments to the Iraqi Personal Status Law that could undermine the rights of women and children. We urge Iraqis to engage in a civic dialogue in full respect of both freedom of religion or belief and the rights of women and children."

Ambassador Romanowski also shared a previous statement from Vedant Patel, the spokesperson for the US State Department, which echoed the same concerns.

The proposed law, currently being discussed in the Iraqi parliament, has faced significant opposition from various segments of society, including legal experts, lawyers, and women’s rights activists.

On Saturday, the Iraq Polling Team (IPT) conducted an online survey involving over 60,000 participants, both inside and outside Iraq. The majority strongly opposed the ongoing attempt to amend the law.

Earlier, Human Rights Watch warned of the potential "catastrophic consequences" if the law is passed, noting that the Iraqi parliament is working on amendments that would allow religious authorities to govern matters of marriage and inheritance instead of state law.

According to a Human Rights Watch report, if the amendment is approved, it would have disastrous effects on the rights of women and girls as guaranteed by international law. It would permit the marriage of girls as young as nine years old, undermine the principle of equality under Iraqi law, and remove protections for women in cases of divorce and inheritance.

The organization urged Iraqi lawmakers to reject efforts to strip women and girls of legal protections and to resist rolling back the hard-won rights they have gained over decades. Failure to do so, it warned, would mean that current and future generations of Iraqi women would remain trapped in a repressive patriarchal legal system.